NCAA is sending a message I guess. Damn, very interesting bracket.
Few notes, South Region looks absolutely brutal.
Murray State playing Colorado State as a 6-11 game? Wow.
Creighton getting screwed into a 8 seed as well.
Potential for a lot of upsets.
Let the madness begin!

Biggest surprise in the bracket was Iona, with a weak schedule and no quality wins and they still managed to get it.

But if they do beat BYU, I could see them causing problems with Marquette.

And because Iona is in, the MAAC can say they the same amount of teams in the tourney as the Pac-12.

I don't know if it was really a message -- do you think there were a lot of deserving BCS teams left out? I don't. A big part is how awful the PAC-10 was.

I'm curious if CU hadn't had won the Pac-12 final, and Cal did, would the Pac-12 have become a one bid conference?  That would've been historic.

Marquette playing BYU/Iona in the 2nd round, Belmont a 14! Both of those 14 seeds could very well win.

I don't like how the NCAA puts mid-majors against each other in the first round. VCU/Wichita State...Murray St/Colorado St...New Mexico/LBSU. Attrition for the non-power conferences. 

Gonzaga is a higher seed but travelling to Pittsburgh to play West Virginia? Syracuse looks like they should roll into the Elite 8. Not sure how St. Mary's is a 7 seed, looked like a 6 to me.

Overall, I like it, outside of UW Huskies not making it and Iona in.

I believe that ORU should have been in over Iona, Committee Chair Jeff Hathaway said that ORU was the first team left out. 

I definitely think it was more of the Pac-12 sucking this year then it was a statement about the mid-major programs. Normally you can expect 4-6 from the Pac 12 instead you get 2 and that lets an extra 2-4 mid-majors in that probably wouldn't have gotten in, in a normal season.

Seton Hall should have gotten a shot IMO. Iona should be out. 

Posted by car_crazy_v2 on 3/11/2012 9:48:00 PM (view original):
Seton Hall should have gotten a shot IMO. Iona should be out. 

Most tourney teams don't lose by 28 to DePaul, there are plenty of teams more deserving than Seton Hall in my opinion.

I think Drexel should be in over Iona - I think that Iona getting in is a product of over-analyzing. Despite the schedule, it sure seems as though Drexel was a far superior team. 

Other than that, I thought that the tourney selection went well. 

Potential Murray St.- Missouri matchup could be awesome. 

Posted by girt25 on 3/11/2012 7:40:00 PM (view original):
I don't know if it was really a message -- do you think there were a lot of deserving BCS teams left out? I don't. A big part is how awful the PAC-10 was.

I agree with that. I guess another point I was trying to make is that the comparisons between HD and real life are ok. This is just a game.

There were only four P-12 teams last year, and one - USC - shouldn't have been in.  I don't think that's really the issue.

As for Murray State-Mizzou, c'mon, bbunch!  If you've seen Marquette, you know that Mizzou-Marquette would be best Sweet 16 game to watch.  

I'm not much of a basketball fan. As my screen name implies, I went to SC but we are not a basketball school. Further I'm not one of those folks who root for the rest of the conference if we don't get in. 

That said, I've got a gripe with Washington being left out. They won the conference with a 14-4 record. Yes, the PAC12 is down this year. Yes, they knew the "rules" of the conference tourney winner getting the automatic bid, etc. Nothing against Iona, BYU or even Cal but those teams getting into the tournament implies they would have done more than Washington did in winning the conference. Cal clearly couldn't, even beating Washington head to head they finished lower than them. Same with Colorado. As much as I love mid-major teams and recognize the quality they have, I have a hard time believing BYU or Iona would have won the PAC12 regular season. 

In all though, with 68 teams getting in, Washington and all the rest going to the NIT can surely point to a few games they let slip away and know they could have made it really easy to get picked for the big dance. 

Posted by sctrojanx on 3/12/2012 1:36:00 AM (view original):
I'm not much of a basketball fan. As my screen name implies, I went to SC but we are not a basketball school. Further I'm not one of those folks who root for the rest of the conference if we don't get in. 

That said, I've got a gripe with Washington being left out. They won the conference with a 14-4 record. Yes, the PAC12 is down this year. Yes, they knew the "rules" of the conference tourney winner getting the automatic bid, etc. Nothing against Iona, BYU or even Cal but those teams getting into the tournament implies they would have done more than Washington did in winning the conference. Cal clearly couldn't, even beating Washington head to head they finished lower than them. Same with Colorado. As much as I love mid-major teams and recognize the quality they have, I have a hard time believing BYU or Iona would have won the PAC12 regular season. 

In all though, with 68 teams getting in, Washington and all the rest going to the NIT can surely point to a few games they let slip away and know they could have made it really easy to get picked for the big dance. 

They did do more- Washington had 0 top 50 wins.

Each of the other teams you mentioned had at least one top 50 win.